Livination!
by MarioMaster2008
Summary: After Olivia discovers some weird goggles, she gains powers beyond her wildest dreams.
1. Chapter 1: Psychic Powers, Apperently

Josh walked down the long road with Jacques and Olivia. Fortunately, it was a brighter day than usual, for the three of them were locked out of Josh's house.

"I can't believe you lost the house key." Jacques said disappointedly.

"I didn't _lose _it." Josh replied, somewhat mad and somewhat defensively "I just…misplaced it."

"Hey—I think I found something!" Olivia said. She was wandering around behind the house, and was looking in the bushes that grew back there.

Initially, Josh and Jacques hadn't heard her. They were still too busy with their daily debates until Josh's phone rang.

"Yeah, yeah, I _know—_no! Not _me! _Emily! _She's _the one who—" But Josh was cut short again because of an ominous purple glow coming from the back of the house.

Josh looked back at Olivia, who was holding strange goggles. "I can see _everything…_" She proclaimed, as surprised as she had ever been, Josh's mouth open as wide as hers was.

_MarioMaster, Sonicfiend and LivLifeAwesome in: __**Insert Title Here—**__I mean—__**Livination!**_

"Um…yeah, I have to go, Rob. Liv has psychic powers now…apparently."

Josh hung up the phone, as Olivia ran up holding the goggles. "Somehow, I don't think Rob will believe me."

"_You guys! __**You guys!**_" Olivia shook Josh by his shoulders, bursting with excitement "I saw the future!"

"Oh?" Josh had always been a skeptic when it came to stuff like this. "Let me see those things."

He grabbed the goggles, and saw the vision Olivia had that triggered the purple glow.

_Josh hung up the phone, as Olivia ran up holding the goggles. "Somehow, I don't think Rob will believe me."_

"_You guys! __**You guys!**__" Olivia shook Josh by his shoulders, bursting with excitement "I saw the future!"_

"Well, I'll be damned." Josh was amazed when he gave Olivia back her goggles. "Do you have any other powers?"

"I don't know. All I think I can do right now is seeing the future." Olivia replied dejectedly.

"What do you mean; _all _you think you can do right now is seeing the future?" Josh exclaimed "Don't you know what we could _**do **_with this? Besides, I'm sure there are other powers."

The goggles shot out a long green beam. Olivia screamed, pointing the goggles at the house.

_**TO FIND THE POWER OF TELEKINESIS, THE BEARER OF THE GOGGLES MUST NOW READ THIS.**_

_**IT IS HIDDEN INSIDE THIS HOUSE—**_

The laser had run out of space to write any more on the wall.

"Aw, no rhyme?_" _Olivia sad, still sort of sad, both from not having a concluding line, and from getting her new shirt wet from the dew on the grass when she'd fallen from the laser's knockback.

"I bet it's because the author of this very story couldn't think up a good word to finish that last sentence." Jacques said, looking at an imaginary camera.

"Hey, leave the author out of this!" Josh snapped "I'm…sure he has a very good reason. Regardless, let's go and see if we can find that thing. It says it's in here."

"But how do we know what 'it' is?" Jacques questioned "There could be anything that could trigger telekinesis!"

Josh donned a sudden grin. "Well, I don't know, but I might have an idea…"

He ran inside the house, Olivia and Jacques trailing behind him, though less eager than Josh, which seemed impossible when compared to Olivia.

Eventually, Josh had grabbed a megaphone from his room, walked up behind Jacques, who was looking in the corner of the room, and turned it on right next to Jacques' ear.

Feedback generated a quiet noise from the megaphone as Olvia ran towards him, grabbing the megaphone.

"_This is it…_" Olivia said, almost in a hypnotic trance. "The power of telekinesis…"

"_Really? _The _**one **_thing in here that I was _sure _wouldn't give you the power…" Josh sighed.

But despite his own discouragement, Josh couldn't help but be amazed by the purple glow that once again surrounded Olivia as she absorbed her new power.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2: Astral Perfection?

"Wow, my house had the keys to both telekinesis and the ability to see the future!" Josh proclaimed "…Why haven't _I _found this before?"

Liv looked through her goggles at Josh.

"_Wow! Look at that, Liv! That's amazing!" _Josh was pointing at an object Liv couldn't see in her vision. She turned her head, but the vision ended before she could see what it was.

"Well, that's inconvenient, isn't it?" Liv set down her goggles in annoyance.

"Yeah—I saw it too—somehow." Jacques said. "It didn't look like it was in this house."

This was true. The vision from the goggles wasn't set in Josh's house, but rather an old, run down, wooden shack—the boards that formed the ceiling eaten through, and somewhat crumbling under the weight it had to support. The roof leaked, and there were numerous holes in the walls.

"I wonder where it is, though." Josh pondered aloud, and began to think.

Liv held her megaphone up to her ear, speaker end first, so no one yelled at her while she was listening.

"_I wonder if I should tell Liv that that's the old barn I used to use for a hiding place…Nah, she'll feel better if she figures it out herself._" Josh thought's came in as clear as if he were talking.

Liv gasped. "_You used a desolate barn, all the way in the middle of nowhere for hide-and-seek?_" She gasped again, louder this time. "_**You never told me about it?**_" Again she gasped, the loudest of all, grabbing Josh by the shoulders and shaking him vigorously. "_**IS THERE SOMETHING IN THERE THAT WOULD GIVE ME ANOTHER POWER?**_"

"Perhaps…" Josh admitted, a little bit embarrassed, but he didn't have time to be—letting out a short started gasp of his own as Liv pulled him by the arm, running out of the house, Jacques tailing behind.

"_Come on! Let's __**GO!**_" Liv screamed with excitement, nearly dragging Josh along the dirt road which led up to his house.

"But—" Josh stopped to wipe the dust off his face "—but you don't know _where _the barn _is!_"

Liv stopped cold in her tracks, letting go of Josh's hand. He stood up, wiped the dust off his clothes the best he could, and held her hand again, smiling at her.

"The barn—"he said, with a small sigh "—is on the other side of town. It's almost nightfall now—there's no way we'll make it there in time."

"You know," Liv said, turning towards Jacques. "You've been quiet most of this chapter. Are you hiding something from us?"

"No…" Jacques said, but there was something in his voice that made Liv think he was lying. Again, she held her megaphone up to her ear.

"_If I don't think about the plane, there's no way she'll ever know about it. Wait—__**son of a—**_"

"Plane? What plane?" Liv set down her megaphone, inquiring in her most threatening tone of voice, letting go of Josh's hand to step forward towards Jacques.

"A—after all that time I spent playing that new PS3 version of Sonic Adventure—" Jacques timidly began.

"Goddamn high-definition remakes." Josh mumbled under his breath.

"—I decided it'd be cool if I built a plane of my own!" Jacques finished, as Liv raised her fist.

"Oh, you did, did you?" Josh stepped forward as well, so the three of them stood in a group. "Yeah, it's cool that you _built _the thing, but how well can you _fly _it?"

"Not very well, honestly." Jacques admitted.

"_Good enough for me!_" Knowing where the workshop was ahead of time, due to sneaking around beforehand, Josh ran off in the general direction.

Soon enough, the three of them got there, but night had fallen, and it was getting dangerous to be out alone.

"Ladies first." Josh was always _somewhat _of a gentleman.

Liv stepped forward, but Josh held his arm out to stop her. "I didn't mean _you._" He eyed Jacques, and, with _glaring _intensity (pun time yay) Jacques stepped inside.

"I, uh—probably wouldn't stand there." Josh motioned as both he and Liv stepped back.

Suddenly, a green gas cloud flew up from the workshop, with the most deafening sound of passing gas you would have ever heard.

"_Ugh! Damn!_" Josh waved the gas cloud away "_I __**planted **__that there and I can't believe how bad that smells!_"

"Real mature." Jacques walked out of the workshop, squinting his eyes over the smell.

Eventually, the three of them found the plane, thankfully parked away from the gas explosion, and landed _relatively _safely at the barn. Inside, the three of them scrounged around the various desolate hay bales until Josh uncovered something hidden inside one of them.

"_Agh! _I think I cut my finger!" He looked deeper inside the haystack. "Wait, this isn't a needle…it's just the sharp edge of—ha!"

Josh held up an old, rustly film reel, and threw it to Liv. "Catch!"

Liv caught the throw, and once again, the purple aura surrounded her. Within seconds, her body collapsed, and, from her suddenly cold corpse, her spirit rose up.

"_Ha!_" It said—it was Liv's voice, but a bit lower-pitched than usual—"I am the spirit of Olivia—and night is the time when _I _rule the world!"

"Yay, end of chapter conflict!" I said excitedly.

And I was right.


	3. Chapter 3: Spiritual Successor

The menacing spirit of Olivia floated in the air, glaring at Josh and Jacques. And after a bit of silence, she spoke. "I am the _real _Olivia!" she declared, as horrifying as it was triumphant "I have been trapped in that body for years, and _you two_—" Here, she glared at the two of them again "—you two did _nothing _to get me out! So now, I shall _kill you_ _both!_"

Josh stepped forward to face the spirit. "The real Olivia, you say?" he inquired, in a sort of calm tone, though in reality he was very afraid "The _real _Olivia would _never _threaten to kill us. The _real _Olivia is the one who enjoys spending time with her friends, laughing and having fun. The _real _Olivia isn't _you. _You're just some pent up living rage!"

"_HA!_" Liv's ghostly remains, with her odd new voice, had a creepier laugh than her former carbon-based counterpart. "I am the new Olivia! I am the Olivia who now inhabits this world! The Olivia you know is_ dead!_ And you, Silent Bob—" she pointed at Jacques "—your plane finally led me to the key to set me free."

"Yeah, Bob, how could you?" Josh turned his back to Olivia's ghost, and focused his attention on Jacques.

"Well, how was I supposed to know this would happen?" he said, in a defiant tone.

"All right, all right—fighting won't solve anything—how do we get Liv back?"

"I can _hear _you." The ghost of Olivia chimed in, laughing because we were stupid enough to discuss battle plans in front of her.

"She can hear us…hear…_megaphone!_" Josh said victoriously, running forward to grab the megaphone. But the ghost of Olivia stopped him dead in his tracks, picking him up with a weird ghostly aura that looked like it was something out of Star Wars.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" she said, dropping me and quickly grabbing me again once I had fallen a little of the way down.

"You know, if you really wanted to kill me," Josh said, thinking quickly "You'd have let me fall."

"Perhaps, or perhaps it is that I wanted to spare you, as a lab rat of sorts." She spoke in a sort of taunting way now, though it was still creepy "—or maybe, I wanted to just give you some hope that you would eventually succeed, only to dash them all later on."

"But the Olivia I know wouldn't do that," Josh was again thinking on his toes, even though none of his toes were touching the ground "She would be loving, and supportive, and—_**Jacques, grab the megaphone!**_"

Jacques ran forward, grabbed the megaphone and threw it up to Josh, who caught it in his hands.

"See? You forgot I was in the story, didn't you?" he said, again to an imaginary camera "The author really needs to give me more screen time."

Ignoring the comment, Josh began to read the spirit's thoughts the same way the human Olivia once probed his own mind. But instead of getting a reading, it merely pulsated a very annoying and deafeningly high-pitched noise through its ears.

"_**AGH! MAKE IT STOP!**_" the spirit let go of Josh, sending him into a conveniently placed haystack. "You win….for now." She floated back into Liv's body, as the sun rose again. Liv stood up, dusted herself off and walked over to Josh.

"Did I miss anything?" she said, helping him up.

"Not really. " Jacques said "But one of us might want to carry a vacuum from now on."


	4. Chapter 4: Needle in a Haystack

"Holy crap…" Olivia said, holding her head, still in somewhat of a daze from passing out. "What happened?"

"You turned into a ghost and tried to kill us both." Jacques replied, holding up the film reel Olivia had used for Astral Projection.

"You know, the usual thing." Josh said, snatching the film reel. "This thing must be ancient, what's it doing lying around a barn?"

"It's _my _psychic power, _I _should hold on to it!" Olivia grabbed the film reel from Josh, and immediately stared blankly into space. Her eyes grew wide, and she was smiling—nearly drooling on her shoes—but she didn't seem like she was breathing.

"Is—is she dead?" Josh stepped forward nervously to Olivia's dormant body.

"I'm not dead!" came a voice from behind them. "I'm right here!"

"Strange," Jacques narrowed his eyes, staring at Olivia's body. "Her lips didn't move…"

"_No! __Here!_" the voice said again, tapping Josh on the shoulder. Turning around, he dawned a shocked look as well.

"Why is Olivia's voice coming from a stack of hay?"

"I don't know," the haystack said, rolling towards them, sort of like a tumbleweed. "But I like it this way—now I can be _everywhere!_"

"Hi!" said Olivia's voice from a different haystack across the hall.

"Hi!" said another.

"Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!"

"_Okay! We get it!" _Josh yelled, waving his hands around. "Is this what Astral Projection does? Give people migraines?"

"Sorry," Haystack Olivia apologized, giggling nervously. "But psychic powers are _fun!_"

"I don't think they'll be fun for long…" Jacques said worriedly. "Things like this can be _dangerous!_ Do you have any idea what kind of destructive power can be brought about by—"

"Oh, lighten up. Let her have her fun." Josh said, still looking at Olivia's dormant body. "…Wherever she is."

Olivia laughed again as she transported herself back into her body. "Yeah, Jacques. What could possibly go wrong? You guys know I would never think of hurting anyone with my powers! You guys know I'm just trying to—"

And there it was again. That same trance-esque look that last came about when Olivia tried Astral Projection. Except this time, her body still moved. She was still breathing. And this time, she was moving toward a shop.

"_All the powers in the world…_" she began, in a voice too monotone to ever adequately substitute her original one. "_They're all theeere…all in the shop…_"

"What did I tell you?" Jacques said boastingly. "I _told _you that her powers could be dangerous! _I __**told **__you _that—"

"Shut up—we don't know where she's going. We don't know why she's heading towards that shop. And we probably should follow her to find out."

"If my guess is correct," Jacques said, following behind Josh as the two of the tailed the lifeless Olivia "She's gone power-mad. And things can only get worse from here…"


	5. Chapter 5: The Beginning of The End

"_Power…unimaginable power…in the shop…_" Olivia stopped at the door, and looked down at her feet. There, she saw a broken down photocopier, lying there on the ground, the gray plastic cover turned to a mild yellow due to weathering.

She picked up the photocopier, and once again felt that familiar aura; the aura that granted her the unimaginable power she'd always wanted, but never could obtain. The power that, in any other hands, would murder the entire human race.

For as she picked up the photocopier, the aura split into two. There was two Olivias standing there, on the desolate dirt road that led to the shop. Then there was four. And eight! And _sixteen!_ Until finally, a mob of Olivias all began banging on the door.

"_The __**power! The power is in the shop!**_" They said, coming out of their monotone voices and into a slightly subdued rage. They broke down the door, which fell onto the blue and white tiled floor of the convenience store with a loud _thud _that shook the floor and anyone standing near it.

But this didn't stop the hundreds of Olivias that now wandered into the store, looking for the objects that their minds told them would grant them the power to do whatever they wished. With their unbelievably advanced minds, they could do what any normal human being could only dream of.

With the objects in that convenience store, they just might have ended existence as we knew it.

And as she walked out, those fears became reality. For she was no longer the mortal being that we had known beforehand. No, instead, her legs were crossed, and she was floating in the air, her hair waving back and forth in her self-created breeze. Her eyes were closed, and she was permanently surrounded by the purple aura that used to signify acquiring a new power.

Perhaps, now, she had acquired _all _power?

Olivia opened her eyes. As she spoke, her voice was not in her usual tone, but an eerily calm tone, as soothing as one would use to make a child drift off to sleep at night.

"_The power is mine…_" she said, glaring at Josh and Jacques as they ran up to meet what they knew inside was their doom, personified in a friend they both had held close to them. "_…and there's nothing that can be done to stop me._"

"Oh yeah, this is bad." Josh said, exhaling, half from the shock of seeing Olivia like this, and half from running all the way to the store.

"_You think?_" Jacques snapped. And they both just stared at Olivia, for neither of them knew what they could possibly do next.

Well, my friends, it seems that the first half of this story has drawn itself to a close. But we're just getting started. Consider a world where your deepest and darkest fears materialize in front of you. You, the helpless person standing in the center of it all, are powerless to do anything about it, and even if you weren't, you're cowering too much to even _think _about moving at all. Your limbs start cramping, and feel as though they're going to fall off. The pain grows and grows, becoming more and more unbearable as time goes on.

This world, the world of horrors and terrors beyond your wildest dreams is only a _fraction _of the world that Josh and Jacques now imagined when they stared into Olivia's bright, yet pupil-lacking eyes. This is the world that would come through the ultimate psychic being.

This is the world that _**you, **_my friend, will experience, in the collaborative second half of our story. The next chapters of our tale will alternate between myself and Kid Anime, otherwise known as "Jacques."

I, Josh, will see you again, in time. But _you_ will soon be immersed in…_**Livilization! **_

Part One of this delightful adventure will be arriving soon. Come back later, and witness what your _greatest_ _fears _are scared of.


	6. Chapter 6: Livilization Part One

Hi. Um, you might remember me as one of the protagonists of this here story, just wanted to remind you that from here on in, this story's gonna be written by myself and Kid Anime. What you're about to read, he wrote, not me. So, where were we? I believe we were in the city again—so that's where I leave you.

* * *

Josh and Jacques gazed down upon the city and watched how, within the course of a day, their once sweet and lovable Olivia became a ruthless dictator that ruled over all. Her word was law and any who dared to defy her...let's just say they weren't heard from again.

To break the tense silence, Jacques commented on their surroundings. "Well, there went the neighborhood." Josh replied without taking his view away from the darkened red sky and ruins of buildings that once stood tall.

"How did it come to this?"

"Our friend unlocked the potential to control all forms of telekinetic and psychokinetic abilities. Or did you suddenly develop memory worse than mines?" Jacques answered in a joking manner. Clearly, the expression on Josh's face was anything but a joke. "We have to stop her. We have to get our friend back."

"And you propose we do that how? Those robots are swarming around every nook 'n' cranny of town..." The robots Jacques speaks of are Livdroids, mechanical creations powered telepathically with one main purpose. To inspect and eradicate any and all crimes against the supreme rulership. "Kind of unlikely that we'd do anything effective don't ya' think?"

"Listen to me." the more serious of the two began while turning to face the other. "There's got to be a way to bring back the old Liv. I don't know how...but there is, we've got to try!"

"Query: What are you speaking of?"spoke a mechanical voice. Turning back, they came face to face with an L-103_δ _model, one of the more combat equipped Livdroids that was equipped with detachable arms, specifically for seizing hold of opposing creatures.

"Nothing!" Jacques quickly replied, trying to cover up their conversation. "What are _you_ speaking of?"

The L-103 played back exactly what they had said via a voice recording system that was used for interrogations, leaving the now guilty one with one response. It was full of cunning and pure wit.

"Damn."

"Demand: You will now come with me to the court. It is there where we will determine your fate." The robot approached them and readied it's hands for capture.

"Got a plan my man?" Jacques inquired towards his friend. After hearing no reply he looked back to see him already long gone. "Gee, thanks!"

And thus, a game of cat and mouse began, Jacques had bolted it back into the city in the direction Josh headed with their oppressing machine in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, when he had caught up, so did the robot.

"Statement: Resistance is futile."

"Here's a statement, go shove it up your shiny metal ass!" Josh had yelled back through panting. Both he and Jacques were cornered with nowhere to go. Looking around desperately, Jacques spotted a beat up pick-up truck, grabbed Josh's arm and dived towards it all in one motion. Looking through the cracked window, he could see the gas meter indicating that its fuel was only half empty and that the keys were still in the ignition.

"We're getting outta here now!" He roughly threw him into the driver's seat and picked up what looked like a bloody metal baseball bat with duct tape on the handle and knob and spikes made from nails protruding from its barrel from the accompanying passenger's seat. "But I can't-"

Interrupting his protest Jacques ordered "_DRIVE IT NOW!_"

While Josh's attempts of starting the vehicle were being made, Jacques hopped onto the rather large and wide back cargo area where the L-103 had parked itself, refusing to move.

"Initiating Battle Mode."

Silently thanking whoever bestowed what one would call this Dues Ex Machina upon him, he took a tight grip onto his weapon and stared down their only blockade of escape and felt that the truck's engines had finally been revved up and running.

"Gear up."

* * *

Next chapter will be mine, then Kid Anime's and so on and so forth—see you in a bit!


	7. Chapter 7: Livilization Part Two

"You totally realize I don't know how to drive this thing, right?" Josh asked, narrowly turning, with a loud screech of the rear tires.

"Better you than me." Jacques said, passively.

"Yeah, I'll take that into consideration." Josh stepped on the gas, and sped the car down a long straight road.

"Statement: I will kill you both once you stop this meaningless prolonging of your doom." The Livdroid was still there—Josh had momentarily forgot about that.

With his peripheral vision, he spotted a piece of metal laying on top of a barell. To anyone else, it would look like ordinary trash someone was too lazy to pick up. But to Josh, it looked like—

"_Hang on!_"With a powerful thrust of his foot, Josh stepped on the gas pedal so hard it nearly pushed it through the floor of the car. The car picked up immense speed, and headed straight for the the makeshift ramp.

"_Are you __**insane?**_" Jacques said, as he climbed into the passenger seat, sensing what Josh was about to do, and holding on for dear life to the back of it.

"_Hell yeah I am!_" was the almost _ecstatic _reply.

The car was on and off the makeshift ramp in a second, sending the two of them and their newly acquired machine high above the fence the metal was leaning against.

The car touched down on a small patch of dirt, the Livdroid releasing its grip from the car and flying off into the distance. At that moment, the patch of dirt caved in along with the car, with—thankfully enough now that he wasn't standing there—Jacques and Josh inside it. The car landed once again, with a loud and sharp _**wham!**_ which sent Josh and Jacques almost flying back up from the recoil, had it not been for their seatbelts, and the distinct slow hiss of air escaping from one of the tires.

When the car stablized, Jacques was as stunned as he was when he first beat _Sonic Adventure. _But Josh wasn't phased in the slightest. "Just like driving that airboat in _Half Life 2._"

Stepping out of the car, he tapped the motionless Jacques on the shoulder.

"Hey! Alive in there?"

Jacques didn't say or do anything.

"...Fine, stay here then. _I'm _gonna go see where this mysterious metalic hall leads."

Josh wandered down to the right of the car, where the light seemed to eminate from the strongest.

Jacques slowly opened the door, and stepped out, walking as slow as Josh usually does.

"I sometimes wonder why I continue to go on these adventures with him."

"Because you _love _danger." Josh said, echoing from the other end of the hall. "_Come on! _There's some old guy in here!"

Jacques walked into the glowing passageway, and stared with surprise that there was another man in this weird passageway. How did he even get down there?

The man had baggy jeans, ripped on one leg, he wore a hardhat, rusty and old, with flies buzzing around the broken and long dead lightbulb. His overalls were tattered and stained, as though he hadn't bothered to matain the state of his clothes or his own hygiene in quite some time, and his blue shirt had red stains—possibly from blood, though Josh and Jacques weren't brave enough to ask.

In his hand, he held a guitar, which, in contrast to the man himself, was in perfect condition—even the strings looked brand new. It had a nice, fresh polish on it, so the two of them could see their own blank stares look back at them through the pale-beige tint of the accoustic guitar.

"_Heeello._" The man spoke finally, "Name's Grant. I run this here place."


	8. Chapter 8: Livilization Part Three

"And this here place is...?" inquired Jacques with a skeptical look.

Getting up from the chair he was seated on, his height alone easily towered over the two boys. Only along with his muscle mass added did he look all the more intimidating. "The only place safe from _her_." answered the man. Just looking him in the eyes made them feel inferior to him, and for good reason too for it was clear that they would not bode well engaging in fisticuffs with him.

"Come with me if you want to live." Before Josh could open his mouth to comment on his demand, Grant followed up by saying "And no, I wasn't making any references boy."

"That answered that." He replied while pouting. Grant proceeded to turn his back to them and motioned for them to follow which they did without hesitation, most likely to stay on his good side. Assuming of course he had one. After walking in silence down a long set of stairs they had reached an old beaten up metal hangar door, prompting for Jacques to ask "So...what exactly do you do here by yourself?" As if on cue, the lights hanging above them dimmed while the oldest of the three slowly turned to look at them. "Oh...I'm not by myself."

The teenage boys exchanged looks of confusion as Grant knocked on the door. Soon afterwards, a voice spoke from behind it inquiring: "What is this place called?"

"The Church of Sit The Fuck Down and Shut The Fuck Up." Something about that answer filled Josh with glee and almost immediately afterwards, the door eerily creaked open. "Welcome back, Grant."

"Thanks Mac." The three outside the door had stepped inside. Grant obviously being here before wasn't all that amazed, Josh and Jacques on the other hand marvelled at the sights of what appeared to be soldiers, of both the male and female variety, doing all kinds of training ranging from practice with long range firearms to close combat with fists or blades.

"Alright you two." The two turned their attention back to the guy who had opened the door for them. In direct contrast to Grant's ripped body, this man had more of a lanky build and was dressed in a traditional American piloter's uniform, complete with helmet and goggles which kept his hair, if he had any, and eyes from view. After stopping to inhale and exhale a puff from his cigar he continued to speak: "Name's Mac, see? Get it memorized 'cause I ain't sayin' it again." Spreading his arms out, he finished with "And this here's the underground base of the resistance formed to fight her evil dictatorship."

"Right..." began Josh. "And what will be done with her if you win?"

"Kill her o' course." Mac stated without any hesitation. Clearly he has no second guesses at ending human life, much less that of a young girl.

"Uh-huh..." With that confirmation he looked down sadly.

"What's wrong with _him?_" Grant asked as he reached into a nearby fridge and grabbed an icy cool beer.

"It's just that...we've known Liv for a long time and-" Before he could go on, Jacques had the two older men staring intensely at him with looks of intrigue. Mac spoke up while smirking.

"Oh do go on..."


	9. Chapter 9: Livilization Part Four

"Well," Josh began again, stammering because he knew which direction Grant wanted the conversation to go. "—we've known Liv for a long time, yes. She's our friend—she's really not a bad person, it's her recent acquirement of strange and humanly impossible psychic powers that's making her this way. This isn't how she really is, I swear to you."

"Is that so?" Grant said, stroking where his beard _would _have been, if he had one.

"Um—why—why are you doing that?" Jacques asked, lowering one of his eyebrows.

"No reason." Grant said quickly, "No reason at all."

"I see…so about Liv, like I said—she's not _like _this. This isn't her—this is some physical manifestation of pure evil using Liv as a host organism—please, I beg you—you _can't _kill her!" Josh was nearly in tears by this point, his legs struggling to stay upright while quivering the way they always did when he was nervous.

"_**WHAT **_did you say to me?" Grant stepped toward Josh, glaring down at him like a ferocious animal might to intimidate its prey.

"I—I said…I'm…I'm going to the armory." Josh said sadly, walking slowly—even slower than he usually does—toward the armory.

"That's what I _thought _you said." Grant said, turning to face Jacques. "And _you._"

"Yes, Mr-Very-Tall-Man-Please-Don't-Hurt-Me?" Jacques spat out the words as quick as he could, Grant's shadow looming over him as well.

"Go join your friend. You'll need suitable weapons for…_the time._"

"The time? The time is 3:37—"

"_I don't care what the fucking time is!_" Grant's saliva poured out of his mouth as he said these words, causing Jacques to step back a little. "_The time _is when we attack the Livilized Forces, and take back what is rightfully ours—this long lost city, plunged into pure anarchy a couple weeks ago. What a glorious day it will be!"

"Oh, I'm sure it will be." Jacques said, with a lower tone and with less enthusiasm than Grant would have liked, as he too, made his way to the armory to meet up with Josh.

"Oh, it's you." Josh said, after he had turned around very quickly out of sheer terror. "I was worried you might have been Mac. Jacques, I _hate _this place—you gotta get me outta here—I don't think I'm gonna last if I have to listen to them talk about Olivia like this!"

"I don't think I'll have an easy time of it either—" Jacques began "—but these are our _lodgings _now—this is where we have to _live_."

"But _why?_" Josh hung his head, and for the first time, he noticed a stain on one of his shoes. "_Why _do we have to live here?"

"Because this is the only place we'll be safe from Liv." Jacques said, as comfortingly as he could in such grim circumstances.

"Well, _I __**hate **_it here." Josh grabbed a revolver from a nearby open locker. "I'm going to the bunker. I need some time to think things through. And I'm warning you now, I _have a goddamn gun._"

Josh trudged off, out the door and through the muddy puddles into the large steel bunker that these strange men hoped would be used as an attack safehouse, sat on the cold, hard—and equally as depressingly grey as the rest of the place—bed, and cried.

And as Jacques watched through the window of the base they were forced to call their new home-away-from-home, he too knew that things were going to get worse before they got better.


End file.
